We arrived at St Andrews Municipal Marina on 4/7/15 and got settled into our slip.
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| MANATEE in her summer home |
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looking down on MANATEE and LIL'MAUR
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Our great friends and managers of Old River RV park came over from Perdido Key to bring us our truck. We had a great afternoon visit with them. Thank you once again, John, Stephanie and Cheryl!
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| At the Shrimpboat Restaurant |
The following weekend was the “Blessing of the Fleet” held at the marina. This is an annual event, but the first time being held at St. Andrews Marina. A couple of priests from an area church came by to bless any boat/ship wanting to participate. This was followed by the “burning of the socks”, a ritual commemorating the end of “sock season” and the opening of “flip flop season".
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| The wreath tossed into St. Andrews Bay for the blessing of the fleet |
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| Blessing of the Fleet |
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| Governor Stone, a National Historic Landmark vessel (1877) has its home at St. Andrew's Marina |
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| The "QUEEN OF CONCH", throwing her socks in! |
We met up with NWA Parrothead friends, and shared bloody marys in the cockpit of Manatee.
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| NWA Parrothead Phriends, John and Judy, Jo and Randy |
A facebook post appeared advertising that Southern Drawl Band was playing at Pineapple Willie's in Panama City Beach, so of course had to go listen to them. They were great, as usual!
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| Southern Drawl Band at Pineapple Willie's |
Our first road trip and adventure for the summer was a trip to Perdido Key to pick up the camper and head over to the MardiGras RV park in New Orleans to meet up with Steve and Erica for a weekend at the Jazz Fest.
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| First ones at the gate! |
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| Capt Ed, catching a quick siesta at the Jazz Fest |
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| At the bus stop in NOLA |
From there we headed up to Arkansas to spend some time with the children. We were planning on spending a month there, so there were lots of preparations to be made. We had to empty the boat of any perishable foods, pack clothes, and transport items not needed on the boat to be kept in the camper. It was an extremely hectic and busy time, trying to keep track of where all our things were, some being in the camper, some on the boat, some in storage. From there, we drove to Little Rock and stayed at the Riverside RV Park where we met our son Edward and his girlfriend Casey. We had a wonderful dinner and visit.
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| Edward and Casey |
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| Casey, hooping |
Then off to NW Arkansas to set up our camper at the new "Powell’s Hickory Creek RV Park”. The park actually is Steve and Erica’s yard. We had a nice flat area to set up the camper, a 30 amp electric hook up and a nice secluded view of the woods.
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| Our site at the Powell's Hickory Creek RV park |
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| "Mowin Mama" aka Erica |
I packed my clothes and went to Erin’s house to spend much needed time with my daughter and granddaughter, while Ed drove back to the marina to meet the boat mechanic. I had a great time.
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| Gardening |
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| This should keep the deer out! |
Then a trip to the park with Anna.
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| Anna, at the park! |
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| she LOVES to chase the geese into the pond |
Mother’s Day weekend was spent camping at Devils Den State Park. It was a great family gathering, but most of the weekend was rainy and cool.
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| Campsite at Devil's Den |
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| Mothers Day (Anna took the picture). Missing Sylvia, she went home to Mom for Mothers Day |
The following weekend was Anna’s graduation from Pre-K and we were able to attend. We were thrilled that we were able to be there for this special time in Anna’s life.
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| Pre-K Graduate! |
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| My proud girl |
The following weekend was a blast as well. We attended a house concert at friends Jo and Randy’s place on Beaver Lake featuring great trop rocker Scott Kirby.
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| Scott Kirby |
We took a drive to Tulsa to take Anna to the zoo.
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| Tulsa Zoo |
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| Anna loves playgrounds |
The month closed out with attending a dance recital of Sylvia’s in Alma, another priceless experience, witnessing Sylvia shine on the dance floor.
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| Sylvia!! |
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| Quite the dancer |
Then it was back to the boat for a few weeks, working on misc jobs. There are always misc jobs to be done on a boat! Ed helped me pattern out sunbrella covers for the clear plastic windows of the dodger. We completed that project and a few other maintenance projects. Worn out zippers replaced, patches applied to stress areas on sail covers, etc
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| Laying out the patterns |
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| Job done! |
We took a day trip to St. Pete area for a quick visit with our friend Cathy. We got to visit with little Jonathan, Cathy’s awesome, darling grandson.
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We love this kid
Before we knew it, it was time for the 4th of July vacation! The kids came with the grandkids for a week. We went out on Manatee to view the fantastic firework show from the barge at the Panama City Municipal Marina. The rest of the week was filled with boating, beaching and swimming, while dodging those summer afternoon storms.
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| The family out for an afternoon sail |
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| Arrrggghhh Matey! |
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| Manatee, a busy looking boat |
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| Fishing at the Marina |
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| Both girls caught lots of pinfish |
The kids left and we kept our youngest granddaughter Anna for another week. A few trips to Shell Island’s beach, a trip to Gulfworld and then back to Arkansas, for another two events of Parrothead fun!
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| GulfWorld fun |
We got back to Arkansasa just in time to attend a pool party at
Time to pack the camper down for the winter. It took most of Monday to do that. We crashed at Erin’s and got up at 0400 the following day to head back to Panama City, to our “floating life”.
In between jobs on the boat, we took a trip on Manatee to Pensacola. Ed wanted to get another overnight trip under our belt, mostly to get me a little more used to overnighting. We thought we had a good weather window, as NOAA said the line of storms pushed south into the Gulf and would turn around and come back towards the coast in a few days. So we packed up, fueled up and left. Turns out the forecast was a little off...(go figure) and those storms hit us that evening and night. We also had a following sea, therefore we rolled side to side all night long. It was all I could do to stay behind the wheel, had to hang on to stay in one place. I ended up not feeling well, got a bit green. Ed had to take the helm all night. So much for me getting used to overnight crossings! As I say, win some, lose some. You can't change the weather, just have to "roll" with it!
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| Pulling down the sock over the drifter sail |
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| Storm coming |
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| Sunset over the gulf |
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| Swells picking up |
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| At the helm at night |
We arrived at the Pensacola Pass by daylight and made our way into Big Lagoon without incident. The wind was blowing as squalls were coming in. The whole weekend was on and off squalls. We still had fun though. We rested up and relaxed the first day. The next day we surprised our friends at Old River RV park by bringing Manatee right up to the dock! We were able to show her off some, and confirmed the fact that she is just too big to stay in Old River.
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| A fighter! |
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| A big ol sail cat! |
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| The Blue Angels gave us a show, they were doing a complete dress rehearsal |
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| Old River RV Park, from the water |
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| She barely got in, practically resting on the bottom |
The return trip to Panama City was great. We left at midnight and by 2 am we were back in the gulf and heading east. We raised the sails and were able to sail on a south 10-15 kt breeze. Ed took the first watch from 2-6 am while I slept (works for me!) Ed finally gave me watch at daylight and he took a nap. We sailed almost the entire trip. The wind died around 10 am, so we motored from that point. We arrived back at the marina around 4:00 pm.
Back to projects for a few weeks.
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| Housekeeping, polishing all the stainless on deck |
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| Capt Ed washing and waxing the hull |
We took a late summer road trip to South Carolina to visit Nancy and John, Ed's sister and her hubby, then on down the coast to Daytona Beach for a fun few days with long time friends for catching up and dominoes competitions!
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| A beautiful resort on the ocean |
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| Dominoes |
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| What fun we had! |
And....back to Manatee, more projects...
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| So proud of our children |
And back to Panama City to Manatee for final projects, provisioning and weather window to begin our cruising season!!
Our 2015 adventure begins October 3!
Wow!!!! Great recap on a fun filled summer!! You two rock - love you so much! Can't wait to read more as you head out on your cruisin'!
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